Pastor Randy Booth

Psychopath

Dictonary.com defines a “psychopath” as a personality which manifests amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.

As sinners we all have some degree of egocentricity. In other words, we’re all selfish, which is the key element of immaturity. Selflessness is the picture of maturity; loving God and loving our neighbors. Doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Jesus was the perfect, or mature man, who was completely selfless. He was the anti-psychopath. Extreme egocentricity separates a person from others. He no longer lives in community or communion, but rather in isolation. The world is all about him; it’s there to serve him; he is god; no one else’s interests are taken into consideration.

When any of us sins we have acted as our own god (at least in that moment). Sin is always evil because sin always kills at some level. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The psychopath, having abandoned all consideration of others, is the epitome of evil and the opposite of love. Love sacrifices and gives to others. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Paul describes the unbelieving mind as “futile,” having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Eph. 4:17-19).